[Joels fish]

Over the last week and a half or two I've noticed my Sevs have been displaying dark barring off and on. The female was doing it first and chasing the male around some , and now the male is doing the same thing. I know that Sevs can be pretty variable in their color and pattern depending on their moods , but this is out of the ordinary for them.
Water parameters are normal : ph 6.8 ,ammo-0 , nitrite - 0 , nitrate- under 10ppm. the only real change has been to the amount of time the Lights are left on . Since my wife and I recently had a baby , The tank is getting a more normal photo period than it has had previously (10 or so hours as opposed to as much as 16) .
The big question is what does this indicate ? I know that the barring can be a good indiactor of stress but apart from a bit of chasing, they act otherwise normal. My experience with Sevs is fairly limited so any insight will be greatly apriciated.
thanks
Joel

 

[HONDO]

im a rookie like you but both my sevs color/barring changes almost by the half hour. they interact alot with eachother and most of the time the colors reflect whats going on with them. ometimes if my big one is chasing the small one he will turn almost black. when they are just chillin and floating around they are pretty light colored. when they eat they are dark green with shiny blues on their face. i will say, if you are noticing the dark, dramatic stripes, mine do that when they are spooked or scared.

someone with more experience/knowledge can help you more im sure, but this is what i have seen with my guys. best of luck.